Particularly in hot climates creating a heated interior in a vehicle passenger cabin, a vehicle HVAC system may be unable to quickly cool/condition air on request at vehicle/HVAC system startup. At a sufficiently high HVAC blower voltage (or speed), this can result in a “hair dryer” effect temporarily introducing undesirable heated air into the passenger cabin, with attendant passenger discomfort.
Specifically, particularly in hot climates and especially when a vehicle has not been operated for some time, on vehicle startup a certain time period must pass before the engine and air conditioning (AC) compressor are at a smoothly running condition and can engage elements of the HVAC system. In turn, while the vehicle has sat idle, air contained within the HVAC duct system may be heated by the sun. As the HVAC blower engages to move air into the passenger cabin, this heated air further contributes to passenger discomfort. All these factors result in a perceived “slow to respond” condition for the vehicle AC system.
To solve this and other problems, the present disclosure is directed to a climate control system for a vehicle and associated methods for controlling the climate control system, which reduce the introduction of heated air into a vehicle passenger cabin on vehicle/HVAC system startup.